Infertile Men and Prostate Cancer

Infertile men may be 2.6 times more likely to develop high-grade prostate cancer.
The Los Angeles Times (3/22, Maugh) "Booster Shots" blog reported, "Previous studies have looked at the relationship between prostate cancer and the number of children a man has, but they have produced differing results." For example, there were those that "suggested that fatherhood was protective, while others suggested that it increased risk." But, "because the number of children a man has may not be an accurate reflector of his fertility, Dr. Thomas J. Walsh, of the University of Washington School of Medicine, and his colleagues decided to study men who had been evaluated for infertility."
They turned to data on some 22,000 California residents who had been evaluated between 1967 and 1998, according to Reuters (3/33, Joelving). "Incidence of prostate cancer observed in the cohort was divided by the number expected for the general population," MedWire (3/22, Guy) reported. "A total of 4,548 men with male factor infertility were identified, among whom 168 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer." In short, "after multivariate analysis controlling for age, duration of infertility treatment, and infertility treatment facility, infertile men were 2.6 times more likely to develop high-grade disease, compared with men in the general population."
There may be "several possible explanations for the relationship, none of them as yet proven," HealthDay (3/22, Edelson) reported. Walsh explained, "There could be underlying genetic abnormalities on the male chromosome." He added, "Also, these men may have a deficit in their ability to repair DNA; there is some evidence that this may be the underlying cause." But, according to the paper in Cancer, "there are indications that the increased risk may be related in some way to male hormones."